those who hunt monsters
by Last Girl Standing
Summary: My name is Atlanta Robins, and for the first thirteen years of my life, I thought - I thought I was normal. Gods, was I wrong. or, a rewrite of the Percy Jackson series with a mostly new cast. - just to see how things play out. Let's do this chapter o1: you only see monsters because is up. t for language, action, and certain character's mouths. action is a genre.


Run.

Close this, close it now. Burn it, throw it into the ocean, I don't care. Get rid of it. Run. None of what happens to you after you after this can be attributed to me if you continue to ignore me on this.

If you're still here, well.

My name is Atlanta Robins. I'm thirteen, and until recently, regarded myself as relatively normal. I hate English class, I like to skateboard, I have ADHD and dyslexia, and I can rant about cool sea life for up to an hour - most notably dolphins. _Normal_.

I've gotten kicked out of nearly every school I've been in - none of which was actually intentional. See, every school I've been to, something weird has happened and I've got shunted the blame. I could go on about them, but. Well.. It's embarrassing.

But I was almost done with seventh grade - without getting kicked out! Hold your applause - when the end of year dance came up.

Technically, they called it a 'social', but no one acknowledged it as that; I mean, come on! Seventh Year Dance. Seventh Year Social. Which sounds more normal? The sixth graders had had theirs last Friday, and the eighth would have theirs next week, ninth after that, - which meant it was our one week.

It would be an understatement to say that the school was in a buzz for the two weeks previous. St. Jane's - a boarding school in the forested part of New York for 'kids with problems', which meant you were either mentally screwed up, a delinquent, or just didn't care about your education - had a strict uniform, so everyone was dying to change out of it.

Am I boring you? Sorry - we'll get to the fun part soon.

I hung out with my best friend June at the edges of the auditorium, quietly chattering about how our science teacher was probably evil and things like that.

June - or Junie, if you wanted - looked like she'd been held back a few years, with less acne and a curvier figure than the rest of us. Her eyes were bright green, and her hair - a curly red mess - had been tightened into a twisted bun. She'd walk with an almost fearless grace, but the moment you spoke to her, you'd hear her fiercely apparent stutter and a perma pass from Gym. She was easily nervous and always on high alert, and tonight she seemed even worse, her eyes jumping around us every other minute.

"June - heeey, Junie, are you alright?"

"I-I-I'm fine!" she assured me, all too quickly, letting out a nervous laugh; more like a bleat really. "It's j-just really crowded in here, r-right?"

"Right," I hummed, not at all convinced.

Someone dragged June away in the middle of our discussion on 'how will music class help me in real life if I don't go into Hollywood?', and she asked if I could stay right there.

I shrugged, and she was pulled away.

Halfway through the song - Die Young, maybe? I wasn't paying much attention - I was tapped on the shoulder.

Two upperclassmen girls stood behind me.

"Heeey," crooned the taller one - Stacey? - and the other one echoed, "Heeey."

"Hi?"

"Doll, headmistress sent us lookin' for you," Stacey grinned ferally.

"What'chu do this time?" purred the other - Casey?

I went on the defensive. "Nothing!"

"Sure," Stacey deadpanned, coming out more like 'shore', Casey echoing her.

Still, Stacey turned, and Casey sashayed after her, leaving me to stumble after them. I looked over my shoulder, and the last thing I saw was June's nervous expression as she tried to pull away from the boy she was dancing with.

* * *

We didn't go to the headmistress' office.

Stacey and Casey led me out into the empty courtyard, then past that, We were near the sea, and I'd always been shocked no one had ever drowned.

As they stopped near the edge, the hungry smile painted on their lips made me worry I'd be the first.

"Uh," I said nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "The headmistress' office is kinda. The whole other way."

"Oh, hon," purred Stacey, dark hair swaying as she tilted her head. "Don't you think we know?"

"Hon," echoed Casey, green eyes alight. "Don'tchu?"

"But you said -"

"I know what I said!" snapped the darker haired, the only fit of anger she'd displayed yet.

"What she said," Casey repeated. "Oh, Stace, can we have her now?"

"Um," I bit my lip. "Shouldn't I have a say on whether or not you can 'have' me?"

"Shut up," snapped Stacey, before turning to the blonde. I inched towards the water, hoping to dive in if things got risky. "You can take the first bite; I'll clean up the rest."

Casey grinned wildly, and lunged at me.

I stumbled away from her, water lapping at my legs. "What are you _doing_?"

_"Stop moving!"_

The water soaked through her white stockings - which had covered what her tiny skirt didn't - and underneath those - underneath those was a leg of bronze and a leg of fur.

"C'mon, Casey! I have not spent the last half century teaching you this for you to be _that_ slow." called Stacey.

"What is up with your legs?!" I shouted, stumbling and sprinting along the shoreline.

"Rude!" Stacey tsked from where she stood, before taking off after us. "Casey - Casey, I'm taking the leading role here!"

"You said I get first bite!"

"I changed my mind!"

"_What the fuck is going on here?_" They started to gain on me, and something - call it adrenaline, if you will - roared in my ears, in my veins, in my body.

In a split second, the waves grew, and grew, and grew until they towered over me; over us.

They crashed down on Stacey and Casey, and then suddenly - suddenly they were gone.

I swayed on my feet, darkness clouding my vision.

The last thing I remember before blacking out is June lifting me up princess style.

"June - June, where - _where are Stacey and Casey?"_

"Wh-o-o are you talking about?"she answered, and then everything went black.

* * *

I woke up in the infirmary, completely dry and confused. Two people sat at my bedside; June, and Mr. Brunner. June, I'd expected, but who'd expect their Latin teacher at their infirmary bed?

Mr. Brunner was a scruffy haired man that smelled distinctly of toffee and was confined to a wheelchair. He looked like he'd be pretty lame, but he brought swords and armor to class and was generally pretty engaging. He was my favorite teacher, even if I couldn't spell half his syllabus right.

"Miss Robins," he started, smoothing out his jacket as June flung her arms around me. "I was just coming in as to keep Miss Glade company."

"Uh, oka—June, Junie are you okay?" June nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. I patted her back awkwardly. "Hey, Mr. B, what time is it?"

"Eleven," Okay, I've been out for two hours. "AM."

Oh.

"Miss Glade informed us of your injuries; hopefully, you'll still be fit for your exams, hm?" I nodded, letting out a soft 'mm'.

"I'd best leave you girls alone. I'll see you two in fourth period come Monday, right?" I nodded and June made an affirming sound and Mr. Brunner rolled away.

"Alright, what is the story you gave them and what _happened_ last night?"

"Yo-ou d-d-don't remember?"

"I remember Stacey and Casey _attacking_ me!" I must have been louder than I thought, because June flinched.

"What? Who?" June looked genuinely puzzled and almost pathetic, fat tears rolling down her cheeks and her eyes red as she scrubbed at them. "Don't you remember? The auditorium was kinda stuffy, so we took a walk and you bumped your head."

I wasn't convinced. I'd saw something, something I wasn't supposed to —

"Right. Yeah. Sure." I affirmed, an uneasy feeling settling in my stomach.

* * *

**notes;**

**guess who's back {back again}**

**alex's back {tell a friend}**

**i may love percy jackson but i have a lot of beef with it. such as**

**-percy's superpowers and his fatal flaw never doing anything?**

**-the complete erasure of anything non heterosexual**

**-rick's heinous attempts at writing girls in love**

**-the blatant tokenism in hoo**

**-rick's aphrodite cabin {did yuo kno? girliness? is not weAK?}**

**-ares being a misogynist {"i should've sent one of your brothers!"}**

**-arES BEING A MISOGYNIST**

**-ARES AND DIONYSUS WERE LIKE THE TWO GODS THAT DIDN'T RAPE ANY WOMEN WHAT THE FUCK RIORDAN.**

**anyway! each chapter is named after a quote. the fic itself is derived from**

**_"Those who hunt monsters should take care, lest they thereby become monsters themselves. For if you stare long enough into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you." -Fredrich Nietzche_**

**and the chapter is derived from **

_**"Stop being frightened. You only see a monster because they want you to see monsters everywhere. They've conditioned you to look for monsters in every shadow, every coat hung on every door." -Grant Morrison (from vol. 2 Doom Patrol #50)**_

**I've probably talked long enough, heh.**

**r & r, **

**alex**


End file.
